Peavey - don’t seem to see them much?

[BassAgent]

22 hours ago, prowla said:

Richard Hammond seems to have a T-40.

That is probably as heavy as Hammond himself.

[WHUFC BASS]

9 hours ago, kodiakblair said:

Afraid I can't help if it's a 1st gen model, mine now lives in Hungary.

 

Still have a 2nd gen 🙂

 

 

Some great looking basses there, I love the TL5 in black, looks sublime.

[Sean]

On 25/02/2025 at 19:41, Doctor J said:

https://www.channel4.com/programmes/undercover-boss-usa/on-demand/59472-012

 

I watched it yesterday. Grim. 

[Cosmo Valdemar]

4 minutes ago, Sean said:

 

I watched it yesterday. Grim. 

I felt so sorry for that poor man who turned down the better paid job.

[kodiakblair]

1 hour ago, WHUFC BASS said:

 

Some great looking basses there, I love the TL5 in black, looks sublime.

It will end up in the for sale ads along with the rest. Just need a burst of energy for photos before paying my subs, must be 30 odd Peaveys in the cupboard so that energy is a big ask 🤣

[SimonK]

Yes I watched it yesterday and thought no wonder I've never liked Peavey... and then realised they currently have the ownership of my favourite amp brand, and while it's all the pre-Peavey kit I love the most, a bit of me hopes that the new kit can keep the history going... although after watching that maybe not...

[Sean]

50 minutes ago, Cosmo Valdemar said:

I felt so sorry for that poor man who turned down the better paid job.

 

The Peavey family seemed so remote and out of touch, not just with the workers but with industrial processes and technology. Yes, they gave some cash to 3 people but all that is lost in accounting as business expenses. Seeing all that electronics being tested was cringe, the checking of how square that combo case was a measuring tape, ufff. I've quality audited a few German electronics manufacturers (even as far back as 2008) where their QA is so sorted and process-driven that they don't even need to test finished product. It was like the 1970s at Peavey.

 

Peavey is using Innovation Amplified as a strapline. Just a quick look at the website tells me that that is so far from the reality. Their premium products are the HP2 guitar which is a rebrand of the Wolfgang guitar from the 90s, which in turn is a rehash of the Musicman original, and the 6505 head, which is a rebrand of the 5150 that ceased to be in 2004! Tehy seem to be very focussed on 120w guitar heads at a time when players are scrapping off their big valve amps. They have TE, so what! They show capos and phone tripods on their home page, I can get those cheaper at Heston services. There is nothing on that Peavey website that gives me even the slightest bit of GAS. Sad but true.

Edited Thursday at 10:56 by Sean

[SimonK]

22 minutes ago, Sean said:

They have TE, so what!

 

Perhaps the ELF line is their most successful and highly rated product(s) at the moment?

Edited Thursday at 11:18 by SimonK

[LeftyJ]

32 minutes ago, Sean said:

Their premium products are the HP2 guitar which is a rebrand of the Wolfgang guitar from the 90s, which in turn is a rehash of the Musicman original, and the 6505 head, which is a rebrand of the 5150 that ceased to be in 2004! 

 

Very true on the lack of innovation! As for the Van Halen link: I recently read this article on why Eddie van Halen presumably left Peavey. It states that apparently his deal with Peavey was that he could keep the 5150 trademark (but that he wouldn't release a new amp design with Fender) and that Fender could build his Wolfgang guitars. When Eddie "broke his part of the deal" by having Fender release new 5150 amps, that's when Peavey brought the amps back under the 6505 name, and they also re-released the Wolfgang guitars as the HP2. Up until then they only had a HP (Hartley Peavey) Signature with the HP shape but Wolfgang specs:

 

[Sean]

51 minutes ago, LeftyJ said:

 

Very true on the lack of innovation! As for the Van Halen link: I recently read this article on why Eddie van Halen presumably left Peavey.

 

 

 

Nice live video of Poundcake by Satch, Sammy. Mike and Jason attached to that article.

 

Peavey seemed a bit ingenuous with the break up terms of their contract with Eddie. They had a deal with Michael Anthony and he had a signature amp at one time that was a more or less standard Peavey head with some chili pepper stickers on it.

[cetera]

I've had 3 x Peaveys and all were excellent. A 'Rudy Sarzo; in dark red and 2 x 'Randy Jackson' RJ-IV's (in silverburst and redburst).

Fantastic basses one and all, but I just wasn't picking them up enough..... 

[kodiakblair]

1 hour ago, cetera said:

I've had 3 x Peaveys and all were excellent.

I can't say all of mine were excellent, wasn't too keen on the Sarzo and I loathed the T-45 😁

 

Some I thought were great but those were mostly lower tier models, Patriot and Zephyr being stand out IMHO. Course that says more about my needs and expectations, contented root note player like myself has no place owning a Midibase; didn't stop me buying one 🤣

[Bassassin]

I've had a Zephyr 5er (which I still have), a T40 and any number of Peavey amps & cabs. A drummer mate has a JJ Milestone which is such a nice, playable little bass that I stopped bothering taking any of my own basses over for a jam.

 

I suppose the T40's the only 'proper' US-made Peavey I've played - aside from the legendary weight I found it a really good, quality-feeling bass, and incredibly versatile. However - that was an issue in itself in that unless you're making notes and/or drawing lines on the scratchplate & knobs, I found finding the same tone twice to be nigh-on impossible.

 

It may have been a frustrating boat-anchor but I do kind of regret parting with that one.

[ajkula66]

I'm probably an odd duck here, but I've never bonded with any Peavey bass guitar or bass amp that I've owned or come across. Some of their guitar amps such as Renown were to my liking, though.

[Jerry_B]

I have an '83 T-40:

 

 

 

It's one of my favourite basses. I'd not put it through an amp for a while but got the chance to do so last weekend, after not having the chance for a few years. It's a nice rugged piece of engineering, and I don't mind it's weight (tbh, with a decent strap the weight isn't noticeable IMHO). I like all the different tones it can create, and sooner or later I've found myself gravitating to a few settings with the controls/switches that I use as a kind of default. I'm also interested in the 1000w MiniMega head, as my PF350 isn't really powerful enough any more in a band situation but I've not committed to that idea just yet. My only 'gripe' about the T-40 is that, now their price has ballooned, using one for gigs seems like a bit more of a risk...

[Paul S]

I only play short or medium scale these days but I used to be a huge fan of the Fury, had three at various points, including one from Davie @kodiakblair and one from Eric @FlatEric.  Think P bass with very hot pickup and really slim, shallow neck - similar in feel to the Geddy Lee Jazz.

[SimonK]

6 hours ago, ajkula66 said:

I'm probably an odd duck here, but I've never bonded with any Peavey bass guitar or bass amp that I've owned or come across. Some of their guitar amps such as Renown were to my liking, though.

 

Actually from the sound of this thread so far it seems most of us like one or two things (for me the Trace Elliot stuff), but dislike the majority of what they do. This feels different from other brands (certainly for me) as while I am not interested in a lot of things, I don't "dislike" products from other brands in perhaps the same way I do with Peavey.